Dulles, Travis meet with berth on the line

Travis' Umar Muhammad and the Tigers face Dulles Friday with a playoff berth on the line.

Travis' Umar Muhammad and the Tigers face Dulles Friday with a playoff berth on the line.

Photo: Diana L. Porter, Freelance

Photo: Diana L. Porter, Freelance

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Travis' Umar Muhammad and the Tigers face Dulles Friday with a playoff berth on the line.

Travis' Umar Muhammad and the Tigers face Dulles Friday with a playoff berth on the line.

Photo: Diana L. Porter, Freelance

Dulles, Travis meet with berth on the line

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When the season began it was easy to find reasons why Fort Bend Dulles and Fort Bend Travis might miss the football playoffs.

Dulles was coming off an 0-10 season and would have taken a few wins just to show it was headed in the right direction. Travis had a new coach who did not have much time to work with all of the young players who were going to play significant roles.

Neither team worried about all of that. Now they are in position to qualify for the postseason. Dulles (5-4, 4-3) and Travis (5-4, 4-3) face off against one another on Friday night at Mercer Stadium. The winner will clinch the final playoff berth in District 23-6A.

Their won-loss records are not the only thing linking the two. Both teams like to pass the ball and have had lots of success against the non-playoff teams in the district. They have struggled to score in games against the three teams that already have clinched (Hightower, Alief Taylor, Elsik).

Travis is seeking its second consecutive playoff berth. The Tigers advanced to round two last season. Dulles has not been to the playoffs since 2012. The winner of Friday's game will be the No. 2 seed in the Class 6A, Division II bracket and play 24-6A champion Clear Creek in the first round.

The other three playoff teams in 23-6A know their playoff seeds. Hightower (10-0, 7-0) will be the No. 1 seed in the Division II bracket. Taylor and Elsik both will be in the Division I bracket with Taylor claiming the No. 1 seed.

The playoff seeds are already locked in for District 24-5A, too. George Ranch will be the No. 1 seed in Division I and Foster the No. 2 seed in Division I.

In District 23-5A it could get a little confusing. Texas City, Ridge Point and Elkins have clinched playoff berths. Friday's game between Fort Bend Bush and Galveston Ball will determine the final playoff berth.

Elkins is guaranteed to go to the Division I bracket and Texas City to Division II. If Bush wins on Friday it will go to Division I and Ridge Point to Division II. If Ball High wins on Friday it will go Division II and Ridge Point to Division I.

There is potential for ties for first place, second place and third place, which would factor into seeding and is too confusing to explain at this point.

Two small schools in Fort Bend also are headed to the playoffs. Stafford (9-0) has clinched the title in District 12-4A, Division I and will be the No. 1 seed for the playoffs. Fort Bend Christian (7-2) has clinched a playoff berth in TAPPS Division II. The Eagles could end in a fourth-place tie with Cypress Christian but would own the head-to-head tiebreaker.